Airplane engine package and method of packaging the same



Jan 18, 1949- J. c. E. WILLIAMS AIRPLANE ENGINE PACKAGE AND METHOD 0F PACKAGING THE SAME Filed MaICh l2, 1942 www N Ciwy/,m

Patented Jan. 18, 1949 AIRPLANE ENGINE PACKAGE AND METHOD OF PACKAGING THE SAME John C. E. Williams,fEnglewood, N..J., assignor to Wingfoot Corporation, Akron, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application March 12, 1942, Serial No. 434,333

4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in packaging. More particularly, it relates to an improved method of packaging airplane engines, and the moisture-proof envelope used for such packaging, etc. as set forth below. Due to the present wide-spread use of magnesium alloys in the construction of airplane motors, it is more important than ever to protect them from moisture, even the moisture in the air.

It is old in the art to enclose engines in substantially airtight containers for shipment and storage. It is new, however, to use a flexible container for this purpose and to enclose a desiccant, such as silica gel, etc., within the package to absorb entrapped moisture and any moisture which may :permeate into the package. This invention includes the use of a flexible covering for this purpose and more particularly a flexible envelope. Although opaque materials may be employed in the preferred form of the invention, a transparent envelope is used.

In the preferred form of the invention, the envelope is made of a heat-sealable material, preferably transparent rubber hydrochloride film. Other films and laminations of metal foil and a film, such as rubber hydrochloride film, and laminations of kraft paper and a metal foil, etc., may be used. Several widths of the film may be used in makin-g the envelope. For example, an envelope which is 100 deep may be made from one width of 20 film and two widths of nlm each 40 wide. If a heat-sealable film is used, these widths are advantageously run horizontally around the envelope .because the overlapping of plies makes the thickness of film to be heat-sealed irregular and it is more diflicult to heat-seal films of irregular thickness than films of uniform thickness. If the envelope is open at the top and formed of several plies which run horizontally, the vertical seam will contain irregularities in thickness due to the overlapping plies. Heat-sealing over such irregularities in thickness may be overcome in the manufacture of the envelope more easily than such difficulties can be overcome in heat-sealing the top of the envelope after it has been placed around an airplane engine.

According to this invention, the enveloperls provided with gaskets whichare spaced in such a way that they will coincide with the holdingdown bro-lt holes in the back plate of the motor and the holes in the anchor plate or saddle which is bolted to a supporting Wooden frame in ashipping container, the bolts passing through the envelope material Within ...the gaskets. The

(Cl. 20G-46) 2 gaskets therefore provide `(a.) the necessary reinforecement around intended openin-gs and (b) moisture impervious seals.

According to a preferred method of packaging, the top of the envelope is folded or rolled down to a position somewhat above the location of these gaskets. Then the envelope is fitted over the bottom of the engine, or the enevlope is fitted into the shipping container and the gaskets are placed so that the bolts will puncture the envelope within the gaskets. In fact, the envelope may be punctured and held in place by these bolts. Then the engine is lowered into the envelope which is supported in this way. Thereafter, the envelope is unrolled or unfolded and brought up over the top of the engine. The top edges of the envelope are brought together at the top to completely enclose the engine.

The invention will be further described in connection with the accompanying drawings which are largely diagrammatical:

Fig. l is a view of the envelope flattened out;

Fig. 2 is a view of the envelope with the top folded down ready for use;

Fig. 3 shows the skeleton form of an engine with the envelope over the bottom #portion and with the top of the envelope rolled down;

Fig. 4 shows the engine completely enclosed in the envelope;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view showing gaskets on each side of the unpunctured envelope material.

Although any moisture-impervious material may be employed, `the invention will be described more particularly in connection with the use of rubber hydrochloride film. One or two plies of the lm may be employed. For instance, two plies of rubber hydrochloride iilm about .0014 or .0017 'l' thick containing a small amount of plasticizer, such as 2-4% of butyl stearato or l dibutyl phthalate has been found satisfactory.

Thinner film laminated to a metal foil or other like impervious materials or impervious laminations may be used.

` Fig. 3 shows a radial type airplane engine I. This is merely representative. An engine with the cylinders in line may be similarly packaged. The bag 2 is provided with two sets of gaskets `3 and 4. This use of different sets of gaskets per.- mits the use of any standard size envelope on engines of different mounting arrangement or design, One row of gaskets is to be used in packaging one design of engine and another row will be used in packaging an engine of different .,desi'gn. It will be noted that the envelope is not punctured within the gaskets, but that the envelope remains intact until it is put to use and therefore only the film Within the one set of gaskets which is actually used is punctured by the bolts. Fig. shows an enlarged section through the envelope, showing an envelope of two-ply construction with the two plies united by an adhesive and gaskets on each sideI of ther iilm material.

The airplane engine l is shown only in outline. It comprises two banks of cylinders 5. The details, such as the individual machined metal parts, etc., of which it is formed, are not shown because the invention does, not lie inthe engine'.

Any type engine may be packaged according tothe invention.

In packaging an airplane engine, a large bag or envelope is required. This may, for example, be some 100 or more in depth. It may be formed of the three width A, B and C which may be heatsealed together, as indicated in Figs. l and 2. For convenience in handling, the top of the envelope is rolled or folded down to about the location of the gaskets, as shown in Fig. 2. This is preferably done at the plant where the envelope is manufactured and the envelope is ad vantageously shipped to the engine manufacturer in this condition. When the engine is to be enclosed in the envelope, the envelope, with the top turned down, may be fitted over the bottom of the engine (as shown in Fig. 3) or the envelope may be put in place in the shipping case in which the engine is to be shipped and the engine may then be placed into the envelope. The engine then bolted down so that the back plate` of the engine t is firmly fastened to the anchor or sad dle plate l in the shipping case 'l'. The bag material passes between the back plate on the en gine `and the anchor plate within the shipping container, and it is pier-ced by the bolts 8 which pass through the gaskets 3 and hold the anchor plate and the engine rmly in place.

After the engine has thus been placed and bolted down, the top portion of the envelope is turned up over the engine. envelope shut and, if desired, before bolting the engine in place, the desiccant is placed within the enclosure to absorb any entrapped moisture and to absorb any moisture which may gradually leak into the enclosure. Silica gel is preferred for this purpose although activated alumina, etc., may be employed. The silica gel is advantageously enclosed in bags and these bags may be hung around the periphery of the motor. Such bags are indicated by the numerals 9 in Fig. 4. This may be done before the engine is put in place in the shipping crate. It may be done at any suitable time but preferably immediately before the bag is sealed. An indicator card which contains silica gel which has been treated with a chemical, such as a cobalt salt, which changes color in the presence of moisture may be used within the enclosure. If a transparent enclosure is used, any decided .increase in the moisture content which causes changes in the color of the indicator can Before sealing the portion of the envelope is flattened out to a straight line with the vertical seal l0 at one end of the flattened portion. Equipment has been devised for heat-sealing the mouth of such an envelope. It comprises a series of heating rolls and pressure rolls so that the envelope may be closed by inerelyfpassing this heat-sealingv device over the top of itv and threading the top edges ll of the envelope between the rollers. Any suitable means for heating and pressing the top edges t0- gether may be used. The dotted area I2 across the top of the envelope and along the one edge and along the seams between the various widths of lm employed and along the bottom of the envelope: indicate where the differentsurfaces of rubber hydrochloride film may be heat-sealed together.

Although the invention has been described. more particularly in connection with the use of transparent rubber hydrochloride film and a radial motor, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto but that various types of enclosing'` film may be used` and that motors of dilferent designs may be thus enclosed. It is-not necessary that the enclosing filmv conipletely enclose the motor as it maybe brought only to the anchor bar and may be fastened thereto with a m-ositure-procf seal. However, in the preferred form of the invention the bag completely encloses lthe engine.

I claim: f

l. In combination an airplane. engine with ,a back plate, a shippingv case with a support for the engine attached thereto, a flexible, moisture@ proef sheet which `encloses the engine substantiallyv completely, and fastening means which pass through` the sheet and join the plate to the support.

2. An envelope of. flexible, transparent material for enclosing an airplane engine, with gaskets located approximately similarly on opposite faces of the envelope material so as` to surround areas. of the envelope; material which are to be pierced by fastening means in fastening the engine in a shipping or storage receptacle.

3. The method of packaging an aircraft engine with a heat-sealable envelope, the top of which envelope is` rolled down, which comprises covering the bottom of the engine with the unrolled portion of" the envelope and then bolting the engine to supporting means therefor through the unrolled portion of the envelope, and then unrolling the top portion ofv the envelope over the top of the engine and heat-sealing the top of the envelope so as to thereby enclose the engine in the envelope.

4. An envelope for packaging an airplane engine with at least two rows of gaskets substantially parallel to the bottom of theA envelope adhered thereto without the material surrounded bythe gaskets being perforated, so that engines of approximately the same size but with different spacing for fastening means or size for mounting may be accommodated therein.

JOI-INC. E. WILLIAMS;

REFERENCES CITED.'v

Name Date Daniels Feb. 2, 1886 Number (Other references on following page.)

Number 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Vaughan Sept. 15, 1903 Christ Nov. 13, 1928 Medoff Oct. 23, 1934 Gammeter Feb. 16, 1937 Kittredge et al. July 19, 1938 Simpson 1 May 2, 1939 Calvert -1 Aug. 1, 1939 MacDonald Jan. 2, 1940 Flos/dor et al. May 19, 1942 Number Number 10 437,139

Name Date Kueppers Oct.. 27, 1942 Landefeld Nov. 3, 1942 Cronstedt Mar. 30, 1943 Sorensen Apr.. 27, 1943 Ames Sept. 28, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Oct. 1935 

